


Byline

by Write_To_You



Series: The Flux Trilogy [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crossover, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Flash Missing Vanishes In Crisis Article, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, My Version of Crisis, Personified Speedforce, Romance, Snowallen Family, Viewing the Future, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:22:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27200384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Write_To_You/pseuds/Write_To_You
Summary: “Flash Missing, Vanishes in Crises, by Iris West,” Caitlin repeated. “Thursday, April 25... 2018.” She stumbled a step back, blood draining from her face. “Oh my gosh,” she whispered. “That’s next week.”OR the third installment in the Flux series, in which Team Flash realizes that Crisis is coming a lot sooner than they ever thought.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Caitlin Snow & Nora West-Allen, Barry Allen & Nora West-Allen, Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow, Caitlin Snow & Nora West-Allen
Series: The Flux Trilogy [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849717
Comments: 41
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. So I just need to take a moment and say that I THOUGHT OF THIS PLOT BEFORE THE END OF SEASON 5. Which means the Flash actually copied from _me_ in regards to the Crisis date getting moved due to time stuff.
> 
> Also so you know... when I wrote this I was working through Season 4 of the Supergirl and had no real concept of what was going on on Arrow (this is a crossover, in case that wasn't clear lol), so I'm pretty vague with details on the other shows.

Caitlin was sound asleep when the sound of speed-lightning had her jerking to a sitting position. Her hands clutched the blankets to her chest, heart rate pounding in her throat. Her first thought was Zoom. Her first thought when she heard speed lighting, even after all these years, was _always_ Zoom. 

There was a figure hovering near the end of her bed. Caitlin’s hand began to slowly reach toward the phone on her nightstand. Was this a nightmare? It had to be a nightmare. Zoom was _dead_ , she knew that. She knew that. 

“Mom?” a tentative voice asked, breaking the silence.

Caitlin fell back against her pillows, letting out a long breath of relief, skin buzzing with adrenaline. “ _Nora_ ,” she replied, reaching over to turn on the lamp. “It’s five AM, what are you doing here?” 

She turned on her lamp and the yellow light had her squinting for a second before her vision cleared. Nora was in a STAR Labs sweatshirt and sweatpants, looking a little sheepish but mostly just worried. 

“Hi,” she said. “I know it’s late; I’m sorry. I just really needed to show you something. Something really, _really_ bad happened.”

Caitlin was immediately more alert. She slung her legs from under her covers, shivering as her bare feet hit the floor, and hurried to get her clogs and a robe on. “What happened?” she demanded as she moved, already heading to the door. “Are you okay? Is Barry okay?”

“Oh, everyone’s fine, I promise,” Nora assured her. “But I _really_ need to show you something like right now.”

Mind buzzing with all of the worst possibilities, Caitlin let Nora grab her and run her to STAR Labs. She was surprised when they slowed down, not in the Cortex, but outside the Time Vault. 

“Nora?” she asked, confused, as Nora unlocked the door and dragged her inside. “What’s going o-”

“Just look,” Nora said, gulping.

The holograph table near towards the front of the small room had been activated. There was a blown up version of a newspaper article, one with a headline that Caitlin knew very well:

“FLASH MISSING, VANISHES IN CRISIS,” the headline read. 

“Nora, I know about this already,” Caitlin told her slowly. “We’ve known about this for ages.”

“ _Just read it_ ,” Nora said, her voice shaking. 

Caitlin looked at her dubiously, but stepped closer and began to read the article. 

_‘After an extreme battle with the Reverse-Flash, our city’s very own Scarlet Speedster disappeared in an explosion of light. According to witnesses, the Flash, with the help of Star City’s Green Arrow and the otherworldly hero Supergirl, began fighting the Reverse-Flash around midnight last night. The sky took on a deep crimson color as the ensuing battle created the most destruction this city has seen since The Flash first arrived in Central City...’_

Caitlin’s gaze trailed away from the article, to the byline. In her hurry to see exactly what had changed, she had skipped over it. 

“By Iris West,” she read aloud. “Well, it doesn’t say West-Allen anymore. Is that what you wanted to show me?”

Nora shook her head. “Look lower on the byline,” she whispered. “Read the date.”

“By Iris West,” Caitlin repeated. “Thursday, April 25... _2018_.” 

She stumbled a step back, blood draining from her face. “Oh my gosh,” she whispered. “That’s next week.”


	2. Chapter 2

_“By Iris West,” Caitlin repeated. “Thursday, April 25... 2018.”_

_She stumbled a step back, blood draining from her face. “Oh my gosh,” she whispered. “That’s next week.”_

“I know,” Nora breathed. “I- I went to check if it had changed. I mean, it was doubtful, but who knew what kind of effects you and Barry getting together could have had on the timeline, right? I had to know if it had changed.”

“It did change,” Caitlin croaked. She felt sick and reached out a hand to steady herself against the wall. “It got sooner.”

Nora nodded, eyes huge. “What are we going to do?” she asked, voice breaking. “Unless there’s something you and Barry have been keeping a secret, if Barry dies on April 25, 2018, I’m not even going to be created. I’ll vanish, too.”

Caitlin ran her hand through her hair, unsure of what to even say. “I’m not pregnant,” she managed.

Nora nodded. “That’s what I thought,” she whispered.

Caitlin turned to her and finally noticed that there were tears on Nora’s cheeks. She gathered her daughter up in a hug, resisting the urge to have a good cry herself. “I promise you,” she whispered, cheek pressed to Nora’s hair. “You are not going to blink out of existence, and neither is Barry. We’ve saved Iris from a fate that seemed certain before, and we can save you two, too.”

Nora nodded, sniffling a little and pulling back to wipe at her eyes. “We need to tell dad,” she whispered, looking so young and vulnerable and terrified that it nearly broke Caitlin’s heart. 

Caitlin nodded back and checked the time on her phone. She let out a slow, calming breath. “Okay. It’s 5:30 in the morning. I’m going to go make some coffee and we can both sit here and wait until everyone else wakes up and comes in, okay? I’ll send out a text calling a meeting at 8. Does that sound good?”

Nora agreed reluctantly. She, like Caitlin, wanted to figure out what to do and do it immediately, but she knew they had to wait. 

Barry, surprisingly, arrived first. He skidded into the Cortex, sending Caitlin’s hair flying into her coffee mug. “ _Barry_ ,” she groaned, suddenly aware that she was still in her pajamas and slippers.

Barry seemed to notice that, too, and gave her a confused look. “Did you forget to get dressed?” he asked cluelessly. “Is everything okay?”

Caitlin opened her mouth to assure him that everything was fine, but the full force of the situation hit her and her throat choked. Nora bit her lip. “Um.... I think it’ll be easier just to- to tell the whole Team when everyone gets here,” she told him, voice a little shaky.

Barry looked back and forth between them like he wasn’t sure who to go to. He decided on Caitlin and hurried over, putting a hand on her cheek. “Are you alright?” he asked her gently. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

Caitlin shook her head and took a shaky breath. “No, no, I’m- I’m alright,” she reassured him. 

“Really?” Barry asked skeptically. “ ‘Cause you’re kind of scaring me right now.”

Nora jumped in. “Look, something’s..... something’s happened,” she told him cryptically. “And it’s just kind of hard to swallow. I promise we’ll tell you when the rest of the Team gets here.”

Barry nodded slowly, pulling up a chair and dropping his hand to Caitlin’s forearm, where it remained until Iris, Ralph, Cisco and Sherloque arrived.

“Alright, Snow, Allen, Snow-Allen,” Sherloque said when he walked in. “What is this news that you have to share?”

Nora straightened her spine, looking remarkably like Caitlin when she was about to launch into an explanation. “So,” she began. “There’s been a couple.... well, _changes_ to the timeline lately.” 

She glanced at Iris, who looked away, jaw tight. Nora winced and then hurried on. “Um, so, yeah. There’s been some changes, and I thought I would check how far those changes actually traveled. So I took a look at the news article that talks about Barry vanishing and, well...”

“It’s changed,” Caitlin put in. “But..... not in the way we wanted it to. Barry still vanishes. But instead of vanishing in 2024... he vanishes next week.”

There was a long silence in the Cortex. Nora looked down, ashamed. “It’s all my fault,” she murmured. “The news article hadn’t changed until I arrived here and helped Caitlin and Barry figure out their feelings for each other.”

“Oh, honey,” Caitlin said, reaching over and rubbing Nora’s arm. “None of this is your fault. Changes happen. Who knows what caused Barry’s disappearance to come sooner? The only thing that matters now is that it _is_ sooner, and that we need to figure out how to stop it.”

Cisco rubbed his hand through his hair. “This is _not_ how I was expecting my morning to go,” he muttered. “So Barry vanishes in a week. Did any other parts of the article change?”

Nora nodded. “It no longer mentions Hawk Girl or Ray,” she told her uncle. “But it does talk about Supergirl.”

“And the Green Arrow?” Ralph confirmed.

“Yeah,” Nora said. She let out a sigh, resting her cheek on her palm. “But everything else is the same. Aunty Iris still writes the article, Gramps is still asked for his statement... and dad still disappears.”

Caitlin turned her head, eyes searching Barry’s face. “Barry?” she asked tentatively. “Are you... okay?”

Barry glanced up, like he had just realized she was sitting there. “Uh, yeah,” he muttered. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just.... I’m gonna get some air.” He stood up and made quickly for the exit, disappearing around the corner before anyone could stop him.

Caitlin bit her lip, exchanging glances with Nora. “I’ll go talk to him,” she offered. “You guys start figuring out a plan?”

“You got it,” Cisco assured her, giving her a thumbs up. “Don’t worry, Caitlin,” he said, quieter, when she passed him. “We’ll figure this out.”

Caitlin nodded, and went after Barry.


	3. Chapter 3

Caitlin found Barry sitting in the Pipeline. “Wow,” she said, heels clacking lightly on the metal grate floors as she walked over and took a seat beside him. “I haven’t found you down here in awhile.”

“Remember when we all used to come down after locking up the metas?” Barry said, mind elsewhere. “We were so triumphant. You and Cisco and I would all stand here and talk over the fight and what we’d learned before we’d shut the meta up. Now when we catch a meta I just flash him or her into the Pipeline and we forget about it.”

“I guess we’re getting used to being heroes,” Caitlin shrugged, though the memory was making her nostalgic. “Capturing a meta isn’t as big of a success as it used to be.”

Barry nodded, and Caitlin tilted her head, looking at him. “Barry...” she started slowly. “I know what you found out today is a lot to swallow, but... we can stop this. We’ve done it before. We managed to save Iris from Savitar, remember? We’ve gone back in time and forward in time and asked for help from our worst enemy. We’ve done crazier things before; we can do this, too.”

“She’ll just vanish, won’t she?” Barry said softly, not replying to Caitlin’s words. “Nora. We haven’t had her yet and she’ll just vanish. In fact, when the change catches up to us she’ll vanish even before I do. We won’t even know.”

“We’ve been through this before,” Caitlin reminded him, putting her hand on his knee and rubbing it. “Remember? When you and I first started trying to figure out our feelings for one another. We knew that there was a chance that Nora could just vanish. But we also remembered that the future is always and forever in flux, and that we couldn’t let it control us. And everything worked out.”

Barry leaned forward and put his face in his hands. “This newspaper article has been held over our heads for five years,” he murmured. “But there was always that buffer of- it’s not yet, it’s in 2024, we still have so much more time. But now.... it’s _next week_ , Caitlin. Next week. I’m going to vanish and never see you guys again _next week_.”

“We don’t know that for sure-” Caitlin protested.

“No, we do!” Barry yelled, getting to his feet. “We _do_ know that for sure. If you’ll remember, when I saw Savitar kill Iris that _actually happened_. It just turned out to be HR using Iris’ face. But it still happened. Which means, even if it isn’t me, someone is still going to vanish into an explosion of light. And besides that, the rest of the article will have to remain the same. If we _did_ make a change, and try to trick the future, Joe would know. He wouldn’t make that comment in the interview that he was hopeful that I would get back. He would know for sure that I wasn’t even gone.

‘And besides that, what about the second article?” Barry continued, starting to pace up and down the room while Caitlin watched him helplessly. “The one that says that 20 years later, I’m still missing. Even if we manage to trick the future into taking someone else, faking the news article, all of that... I wouldn’t be able to stay hidden for 20 years, Caitlin! As soon as there was trouble I would have to rush out and save people- you know that!”

“I know,” Caitlin tried again. “I know, and these are all perfectly reasonable points. But the article has changed before, remember? For a couple months it was _Wally_ who disappeared, not you. And the article used to be written by Iris West-Allen, and now it’s just Iris West. Who’s to say it can’t change again?”

Barry sat back down, heavily, beside her, and started picking at his hangnails. “Yeah,” he muttered. “I shouldn’t have freaked out. I’m sorry.”

“I know you’re scared and overwhelmed,” Caitlin murmured, reaching over and taking his hand in hers, stopping him from tearing up his skin. “Honestly, I am too. But we’re not going to solve anything by being hopeless. You, more than anyone, know that.”

Barry nodded. “I know,” he sighed. “I just can’t believe that...”

“I know,” Caitlin whispered, putting her head on his shoulder. “I know.” 

The intercom buzzed, and a second later Cisco’s voice was echoing into the room. “Guys, you down there?” he asked. “There’s something you really need to see. We’re outside.”

Barry glanced over at Caitlin and she nodded, both of them standing up. Then Barry picked her up and flashed them to the helicopter pad. They found their friends standing in a clump with their heads craned upwards, towards the sky.

Barry set Caitlin down and looked up too. Past STAR Labs’ crumbling towers, past the clouds, the sky had turned a brilliant red.

It had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh hoooooo, so the excitement begins! Man I love this story :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang I remember when I wrote this story. I had no plan until chapter 7 or something and then I stayed up until like midnight obsessively sorting through plot ideas and planning everything out in my head. 
> 
> Those were the days....

“Alright, so what do we know?” Caitlin asked aloud, pacing up and down the length of the Cortex. Sherloque was standing at the whiteboard, ready to take notes. “Red skies appear. Then, in no known order, the Reverse Flash shows up and Kara and Oliver come to help. Later, they all fight, causing ‘the most destruction this city has seen‘, according to the article, though we don’t know why so much is caused. Finally, the Reverse Flash and Barry talk, and Barry ends up vanishing along with the red skies, and, seemingly, the Reverse Flash.”

“But what do they talk about?” Cisco asked. “And why does Barry leave? Also, do the red skies disappear because he leaves, or because the fight is over, or because of something else? Should we be starting on what caused the color change in the first place?”

Caitlin glanced over at the board to collect her thoughts, only to find that Sherloque hadn’t written anything. “I thought you were taking notes,” she sighed.

“You told me to write down what we know,” Sherloque said, shrugging. “I’m still waiting for you to get to that.”

Caitlin sat down heavily in a chair and Nora drifted over to her. She took her mom’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’s gonna be okay,” she said supportively. “We’ll figure this out.”

Cisco rubbed his forehead. “As much as I hate to say this about anyone wearing that face,” he began, gesturing towards Sherloque. “But he’s right. Comparing this to our other adventures in attempting to prevent the future, we don’t know much at all.”

“The skies turn red,” Iris listed. “Kara and Oliver show up. The Reverse Flash and Barry fight, cause destruction, and then talk. The red skies vanish, and so does Barry.” She glanced over at Sherloque. “You can write that down at least, right?”

But he was shaking his head. “See, you have told me about this article,” he said. “It seems to me like it changes nearly every year. Even when the Doctor and the Speedster got together, it changed again, along with their Nora. What’s to say it won’t change yet _again_ , if we try to prevent any of these things to change the rest of the future?”

“He’s right,” Barry murmured, speaking up for the first time. Everyone looked over, surprised to hear him talk. “Even if we keep Kara and Oliver away.... even if we somehow find a way to revert the sky to it’s original color.... it probably won’t change anything about my future.”

“So, what?” Caitlin cried, standing up. “Are we just going to sit around and do nothing, even with the knowledge that we could lose you permanently in a week?!”

“Cait,” Barry started, getting up and walking over to her. He took both of her hands in his, looking down at her like she was not just the only person in the room, but the only one in the world who mattered. “I know you’re scared- I am, too.”

“I think we all are,” Cisco put in.

Barry nodded his agreement. “But there’s no point spending our time trying to change the future when, logically, it most likely won’t work.”

“But it might!” Caitlin protested. “You guys were saying it yourself- that newspaper article is _always_ changing.”

“But one thing that has never changed is that I vanish,” Barry murmured. “No matter what other factors switch around, I’m going to bargain with the Reverse Flash, and I’m going to leave.” 

Caitlin’s breath caught and Barry felt her begin to tremble. He tugged her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. 

Cisco shifted uncomfortably. “So,” he said. “What’s the plan, Team?”

No one answered. Barry wasn’t even sure that there _was_ an answer. 

Then suddenly, Sherloque spoke up. “Ah, the plan,” he cried, waving his hand about. Caitlin lifted her head from Barry’s shoulder, looking over at him with a faint hope that the mystery-solving genius might have come up with something. “The plan.... is that there is no plan.”

Cisco rubbed his forehead. “Was that supposed to be helpful?” he asked moodily. “Because, if it was, you really sucked at it.”

“I do not understand how I ‘sucked‘ at anything; my mouth has been empty,” Sherloque scoffed. “I was only thinking that since you all are so set on having a plan, that we should say that there is no plan. You work towards being spontaneous, thinking on your feet. You try to stop the Reverse Flash from destroying the city and Barry leaving. What is the worst thing that could happen?”

“Uh... Barry could leave and the Reverse Flash could destroy the city,” Cisco said slowly, giving him a look. 

Caitlin rested her cheek back on Barry’s shoulder, comforted by his steady warmth. How he wasn’t panicking right now was beyond her.

As if in answer to her thoughts, Barry spoke up for the final time. “Sherloque is right,” he said. “We saw what happened to us the last time we got obsessed with the future. Everything happened exactly like it looked like it would, even if, in reality, it was different.”

“So you think there’s a chance?” Iris asked, watching him seriously. “To save you?”

Barry shrugged. “I think we can hope for the best and take things as they come.”

And that, it seemed, was all they could do.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I promised y'all a crossover so we're about to start crossing over!!

Two days of barely any sleep, red skies, and stress later, a breach appeared in the middle of STAR Labs and Kara Danvers popped out.

“Hey guys!” she said, in full Supergirl regalia. “You said you need my help?”

Blank looks were exchanged among the members of Team Flash. Barry looked grave. “Who called her?” he demanded, looking seriously around the room.

No one spoke, and Kara looked a little uncomfortable. “Um... is there no alien attack...?”

Barry sat down heavily, rubbing the back of his neck. “No,” he told Kara, giving her a kinder look. “There’s something else going on, though.”

Before he could launch into the complicated explanation, none other than Oliver Queen walked through the door. “The streets of Central City looked calm,” he reported without even a hello. “Where are these aliens? ...Other than you, Kara.”

With both Kara and Oliver looking expectantly at Barry, Caitlin jumped in. “We’ve... gotten into a bit of a mess,” she told them. “But it’s not exactly our fault. Come on; there’s something you guys need to see.”

Their reactions to the news articles were, of course, horrified. “Oh my gosh, Barry, this is terrible,” Kara murmured, looking at him in shock. “I’d say that I’ll go right away, just so that we’re not fulfilling the article, but.... it feels wrong to leave you if something like this were to happen.”

“I agree,” Oliver nodded. “Central City is going to need defending during Eobard’s attack. And, if you.... vanish.... well, someone’s going to have to make sure crime doesn’t skyrocket.”

“I’ll remind you that we have three other, incredibly powerful, metahumans on Team Flash,” Cisco said dryly. “I think we’ll be fine.”

“Still, you’ll need a leader,” Oliver said.

“I’m the leader,” Iris spoke up, giving him a look.

He frowned. “I thought Barry was the leader? Isn’t it... Team Flash?”

There was an awkward silence before Kara quickly changed the subject. “How’d you find out about all of this?” she asked Barry. “I knew about the news article but... it was never this soon.”

“I told them,” Nora piped up, walking into the Time Vault. “I was checking for changes after the future changed and I became Caitlin and Barry’s daughter. But instead of changing the future for the better.... well, you see what happened.”

There was another long silence. “Barry,” Oliver said finally, smiling through gritted teeth in a classic Oliver-Queen-About-To-Let-Barry-Allen-Have-It expression. “ _What did you do_?”

“It’s.... kind of a long story?” Barry tried. “For once it’s not actually totally my fault, though.”

“Nora told us that I get pregnant with her right before Barry vanishes,” Caitlin explained. “She never gets to meet her father, because he’s still missing 25 years later.”

“So Nora came back in time to finally be able to get to know me,” Barry concluded. “And for me to teach her how to use her speed.”

“Wait, but I thought,” Kara broke off, looking between Iris, Barry and Caitlin. “I thought that Barry and Iris-”

“Things change,” Iris said stiffly, shrugging. 

Caitlin nodded awkwardly. “There were a lot of complicated adjustments and fluctuations to the future, but we thought we had it all sorted out. It seems like.... well, there’s something else we need to deal with now.”

Oliver rubbed his face. “This is a lot to take in,” he sighed. “But moving on from that, what are you guys’ plan? How are we going to save Barry?”

Another silence. This time, Cisco broke it. “We don’t.... well, we don’t exactly have a plan,” he sighed. “We’re not sure there’s much we can do but think on our toes and hope for the best.”

Kara nodded, looking a little shell-shocked. She was about to speak when an alarm started blaring. 

Both Cisco and Iris whipped out their phones. “There’s an intruder breach,” Iris reported.

“Barry,” Cisco said, looking up in horror. “It’s him.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have already said something along these lines but was I the only one bewildered and slightly disappointing when the RF didn't even make it into Crisis after he was literally THE POINT OF CRISIS FOR LIKE 5 YEARS?!

_Both Cisco and Iris whipped out their phones. “There’s an intruder breach,” Iris reported._

_“Barry,” Cisco said, looking up in horror. “It’s him.”_

In seconds, Barry, Kara and Oliver were racing down the corridor to the elevator. Too impatient to wait, Barry grabbed his two friends and phased them through the floor to face the Reverse Flash.

He appeared more bedraggled and care-worn than Barry had ever seen him look before. His hair was a mess and he was unshaven, dried blood on his forehead. 

“ _Thawn_ ,” Barry growled, a bubbling rage filling him just as it always did when he saw this man. 

“Before you say anything,” Thawn panted. “Let me talk. You’ve seen the red skies, I’m sure. And I’m guessing you noticed that the date of your disappearance happens a whole lot sooner than it was supposed to.”

“Yeah, I’m aware,” Barry replied stiffly. “Now you better give me one good reason not to grab your sorry self and drag you to the Pipeline because no matter what the consequences, I _will_ do it.”

“Okay, I’m talking!” Thawn cried. “You and Snow getting together messed up the future.”

Barry’s fists tightened and a bolt of lightning flickered in his eyes. Oliver and Kara got ready to attack.

“Wait!” Thawn yelled. “Don’t you want to know why I’m hear?”

“You’re here to force Barry to disappear from the lives of everyone he loves,” Kara answered stonily. “There’s nothing you can tell us that will make us think otherwise.”

“No, no, I’m not,” Thawn said. “When Snow and Barry got together, they changed the future. Nora is now their daughter. That created so many micro-changes to the timeline that it caused the red skies and Barry’s disappearance to happen sooner. Snow isn’t pregnant- not yet. And if Barry leaves now, she never will be. Nora will cease to exist. The future knows that and it’s trying to catch up with her, to erase her from existence, but it _can’t_. Because she’s here, hiding in the past. It’s tearing the future apart, and I need all of your help to fix it. It’s why I called you all here under the pretense of an alien invasion. I need your help to save the future.”

Barry crossed his arms. There was a sinking feeling in his gut that told him that Thawn had such a good point that he could very well be telling the truth. “What’s in it for you?” he asked, jutting his chin in Thawn’s direction. “Since when do you care about the future or the timeline?”

Thawn let out a dramatic sigh. “You think I want the future- _my present_ \- to be torn apart by a mistake that _you_ made? No, I don’t.”

“And what’s to get us to believe you?” Barry asked, crossing his arms.

Thawn smirked darkly. “Judging from the look on your face, you already do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good grief that was shorter than I remember. The next chapter's long, at least relatively, so I guess that sorta makes up for that. 
> 
> Maybe I'll post again tomorrow. We'll see how nice I'm feeling aha.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told y'all I'd be back sooooon :)
> 
> Okay so when I posted this chapter on fanfiction.net it got a pretty intense reaction, which makes sense, 'cause it's a pretty intense chapter. I'll be interested to see what you guys think about it.

Despite what Thawn said, Barry still shut him in the Pipeline. “I don’t trust him enough to keep him out and about,” he told his Team as he closed the cell doors, Thawn immobilized by the injectable speed-dampener that Caitlin had made months ago. 

Since that moment, Caitlin hadn’t seen him. Nora was sticking to her side, half acting as her protector, half looking for comfort. Caitlin finally deposited her with Kara so that they could get to know each other, and went off to hunt for Barry.

After checking back in the Pipeline and on the roof, Caitlin figured that he must have gone home. The door was unlocked when she got to his apartment and she let herself in. Barry was slumped on his couch with three bottles of beer already finished on the floor in front of him.

“Barry, you still can’t get drunk,” Caitlin reminded him gently, picking up the bottles from the floor and setting them on the table.

A fourth bottle was loosely clasped in Barry’s hand, and even though he knew that Caitlin was right, he took a long swing from it. His head slumped forward and Caitlin sat down next to him. 

“Oh, honey,” she whispered, easing the bottle from his lax grip and putting it on the table, too. Barry leaned over and set his head in her lap and Caitlin ran her fingers through his hair. “Talk to me,” she murmured. “What’s going on?” 

“All of this is our fault- my fault,” he mumbled. “I let Nora stay, I suggested starting something with you... and now the future is getting torn apart, Thawn is so desperate that he came to _us_ for help, and I’m going to have to leave everything I love- you, Nora, the Team- in just a couple of days.”

“I know you won’t believe me,” Caitlin murmured. “But I don’t think that any of this is your fault. It’s not your fault that Nora came back in the first place, and it’s not your fault that you followed your heart. All of this is one big mess, and throwing around blame- even if you’re only throwing it on yourself- is just going to make everything even worse.”

Barry nodded, not speaking, and Caitlin leaned down to press her lips to his temple. “Even if all of this turns out like the article says it does.... selfishly enough, I wouldn’t change these last few months for anything. Being with you, and Nora, redeveloping our relationship and, well.... falling in love with you-” Her voice caught and she took a deep breath. “I’m just as scared as you to lose all of it. But even if we do.... I’m glad that we had this.”

Barry finally sat up and looked at her. “I love you,” he murmured, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her, long and gentle. 

Caitlin wound her fingers into his hair, knees resting lightly on his thighs. She gently broke off the kiss and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. 

“Everything’s gonna be okay,” she whispered into his ear, breath ruffling his hair. “We _will_ get through this.”

Caitlin left about a half hour later and Barry had a quick dinner of Big Belly Burger leftovers and crashed in bed. He fell asleep in moments, but sometime later was awoken by a presence entering the room.

Unsure if he was awake or dreaming, Barry sat up and looked around. There was no one in the room, but Barry still squinted into the darkness. Then the form of someone slowly appeared.

It was Nora Allen. But not the Nora he was used to. 

“Mom?” Barry whispered, voice hoarse. Nora stepped forward, into the light of the street lamps outside, shinning through his uncovered window. 

“My beautiful boy,” Nora murmured, putting her hand on Barry’s cheek. A spark of electricity jolted through his skin, and that was when Barry knew, for sure, what he had feared since he saw the figure of his mother standing in his room. 

“Speed Force,” he corrected himself, disappointed. 

The Speed Force nodded. “Barry Allen.”

“What are you doing here?” Barry asked. “Is this about Nora?”

“No,” the Speed Force replied. “This is about you.”

They stepped back from the bed and extended their hand. After hesitating for a moment, Barry got out of bed and took the outreached fingers in his own.

In seconds, the Speed Force was moving. They whisked Barry into a run, to a breach, and then immediately out. It was like when Barry had run with Savitar a couple years ago, miles and minutes disappearing in mere instants with the sheer speed they were moving at. 

Barry stumbled as the Speed Force came to a stop. They were standing in a street, and it was suddenly daytime again. The sky was a brilliant scarlet, even redder than it had been earlier that afternoon when Kara and Oliver had arrived at STAR Labs, and the sun was blocked by hazy, grey-pink clouds.

Clearing his head, Barry glanced around. The Speed Force had already locked their eyes on two people, standing facing each other in the middle of the street. The ground trembled, making both of them stumble. A bolt of red-tinted electricity shot from the sky and hit a lightning rod on a tall building a couple yards away, and Barry finally recognized the two figures.

It was him, a future him, and the Reverse Flash.

“This is the moment,” he whispered, glancing over at the Speed Force for confirmation. “This is when it happens.”

The Reverse Flash was speaking, but a rumble of thunder blocked out Barry’s ability to hear. Future-Barry glanced back, looking like he would see his past self and the Speed Force but staring right through them. Then he took a deep breath and nodded.

Before Barry knew what was happening, Future-Barry had sprinted up off the closest building. At the same moment, a bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky. The two electrical forces met, and there was a blinding flash of light before everything went still again.

Future-Barry was gone.

There was a gut-wrenching scream of, “ _NO!_ ” from behind them. Barry spun around to see Killer Frost falling to her knees, a sheet of ice exploding out from her. The wave seemed to suck all the cold out of her, and her hair and eyes were suddenly back to brown.

Caitlin began to sob, curling into herself. Barry took a step forward, feeling his heart clench into the size of a golfball, but the Speed Force took hold of his hand again.

Moments later, they were standing in a new place. It was a rundown bar, and Caitlin was slumped at the table with about seven different shot glasses in front of her, all empty. Her face was puffy, eyes red from crying. 

“Okay lady,” the bartender was saying as Caitlin waved for another drink. “I think you’ve had about enough.”

“You know who’s ‘ad about enough?” Caitlin slurred, slapping her hand onto the table. “ _Me_. I’ve ‘ad about enough of the peple I love levin‘ me an‘ goin‘ off to save the w’rld.”

She pounded her hand on the table so hard it knocked her off balance and she tumbled off her stool. Barry lurched forward, breaking away from the Speed Force, but when he tried to catch her she fell straight through his arms and hit her head on the floor.

Caitlin laid there on the scuffed hardwood, dazed. A tear trickled out from the corner of her eye, traveling unchecked down her face and dripping to the floor. Barry felt his softball sized heart contract to grape sized and he stumbled back. The Speed Force grabbed his shoulder, making sure he didn’t fall over.

Another figure walked into the bar. Cisco crouched next to his friend. “Hey, Caitlin,” he whispered, deep bags under his eyes and his hair greasy and unattended. “How about we head home?”

Caitlin nodded and Cisco carefully helped her up, ready when she swayed and almost fell back down again. He began to lead her out of the bar, arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him. “C’sco?” she mumbled.

“Yeah?”

“I miss Barry.”

“I know,” Cisco whispered, his voice breaking. “Me too.”

Shell-shocked, Barry barely reacted as the Speed Force grabbed his arm and took him to the next place. He refused to look up as they came to a stop. “Please,” he whispered, throat painfully tight. “I just want to go home.”

“There’s one more thing you need to see,” the Speed Force said, gently turning him toward the scene in the room.

Caitlin and Nora were curled up in a medical gurney together. Nora was trembling- but not with sobs, as Barry had originally thought. He saw with a wrench in his heart that her hand was disappearing.

“Mom, I’m scared,” Nora whispered, watching her fingers turn smokey. 

Caitlin wrapped her arms around her tighter, as if it could protect her from the terrible thing that was about to happen. “It’s okay,” she murmured, rocking her daughter back and forth. “I’ve got you, honey, and I’m not going to let go.”

Barry felt his stomach tighten and he turned away. “I- I know what’s going to happen,” he whispered, breath quickening. “Please. I can’t- I can’t see this, please just take me home.”

The Speed Force nodded, and taking Barry’s arm again, raced off to his correct place and time. 

Now in his room, Barry took a heavy seat on the bed and ducked his head between his arms. The pain in his chest was almost unbearable. 

The Speed Force rested their hand on Barry’s shoulder. Barry looked up, eyes pleading. “Please,” he begged. “I can’t let that happen. Tell me what I need to do.”

The Speed Force gave him a small smile. “When the time comes, you’ll know exactly what you need to do,” they murmured, before vanishing in the darkness of Barry’s room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all were considerably calmer in the comments section than those on fanfiction.net. I appreciate not getting attacked XD

After the Speed Force vanished, Barry shot out of his room and ran all the way to Caitlin’s apartment. In seconds he was in her hallway, hammering on her door.

Footsteps came rushing from inside the room, heading toward the door. It was suddenly flung open and Caitlin was in front of him instead. Her eyes were wide with panic and surprise and still a little gunky with sleep, and her hair was frizzing up in the back. She was just dressed in her pajama shirt and pants, without even a robe on.

Barry grabbed her into his arms without even a word of explanation. 

“Barry?” Caitlin said, bewildered. “Honey, you’re shaking all over. What’s going on?”

Keeping one arm around him, Caitlin let him into her apartment and gently shut the door behind them. She took Barry over to the couch and sat both of them down. Barry curled up in her arms and she rubbed her hand across his back. 

“Barry, tell me what happened,” Caitlin pleaded. “You’re scaring me.”

Barry pulled back a little, swallowing. “I can’t- I can’t tell you,” he whispered, knowing it was true. “But the Speed Force... it came to me and it- it _showed me_ things. It showed me what happens after I leave.”

“Oh,” Caitlin whispered, voice barely audible. 

Barry nodded, slowly, and Caitlin pulled him back into her arms. “It’s going to be okay,” she murmured, running her fingers through his hair. “Everything is going to be fine. You’re still here, and I’m alright.”

He shook his head. “You don’t understand,” he mumbled, face buried in her shoulder. “It’s not going to be okay. Nothing is going to be okay.”

They stayed that way, curled together silently on the couch, until Caitlin got slowly to her feet. “How about I make some tea?” she suggested gently, reaching down and cupping Barry’s cheek. “Stay here for the night, okay?”

He nodded gratefully and Caitlin went to boil the water. When she returned with two mugs of tea, Barry was slumped against the arm of the couch, sound asleep.

Sighing, Caitlin sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder, watching the sun rise out of the window. 

When Barry woke up, it was his turn to see Caitlin asleep, head tucked against his shoulder. He gently eased out from under her and leaned her against the couch, trying not to wake her. His mug of tea, still full and now cold, was sitting on the coffee table and he picked it up to bring it to the sink. Caitlin was still holding her own mug, the empty ceramic held loosely in her hand.

Barry took both of the mugs into the kitchen and filled them with water, before starting on the dishes that were in Caitlin’s sink. Then he rooted around in the cupboard until he found a cornbread mix (he had been looking for pancakes but didn’t have enough luck) and started to make breakfast. He had just finished up the coffee when Caitlin wandered into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing her eyes. 

“Good morning, Barry,” she mumbled. “You didn’t have to make breakfast.”

“I wanted to,” he shrugged, smiling at her and her sleepy expression. “Besides, I wasted a good cup of your tea last night; it was the least I could do.”

Caitlin smiled back at him, sitting down at her kitchen counter and gratefully accepting the mug of coffee he handed her. “You did my dishes, too? _Barry_.”

“You took care of me last night when I was freaking out!” Barry protested. “I just showed up here at like 4 am and you were completely chill about it. Again: least I could do.”

She smiled again and they had a quiet breakfast together. Finally, Caitlin spoke. “So, four days left, huh?”

Barry sobered up, his face falling. “It’s Sunday, isn’t it?”

Caitlin nodded. “Yeah.”

He reached over and took her hand, interlacing their fingers. “I don’t... I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen,” he started quietly. “But I can promise you, Cait: I will do everything in my power to make sure what I saw last night doesn’t happen.”

She nodded, picking up the last few crumbs on her plate with her fingertip and the crumbling them into even littler bits. She supposed that was the best they could do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I honestly think that this series might be the most in-character I ever wrote Snowbarry. Good times, good times.


	9. Chapter 9

It seemed that when you didn’t want something to come, time went all the more quickly. That was something that Caitlin knew both from experience and from simple logic. She tried, as best she could, not to think about the upcoming Thursday, but it was next to impossible. Everything in her wanted to prepare for it, even though she had no idea what to do.

She was reminded of something from the Bible that had stuck with her from her childhood Sunday School classes. It had mentioned that, if you knew a thief was going to be robbing your house on a certain night, you would stay awake and keep vigilant so you could stop him from stealing anything. Caitlin was aching to stay vigilant, to prepare herself for the coming Thursday... but she had no idea where to begin.

Barry had been nearly glued to her and Nora the past couple of days. He had taken them out for ice cream, watched movies with them and Cisco, went to Jitters for coffee, all while trying so hard to act like everything was normal. But Caitlin could see the shakiness in his hands while he looked around his favorite coffee shop, and feel how much tighter his arm was around her shoulder. He knew that he was about to leave everything and everyone he loved. And no matter what he had told Caitlin that morning at her apartment, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Despite all of their wants, Thursday morning rolled around just like any other day. It was 3 in the morning when Caitlin was awoken by Nora coming into her room.

“Mom?” Nora whispered, waiting while Caitlin blinked sleep out of her eyes and squinted at her sleepily. “Can I- can I stay here with you?”

Caitlin nodded wordlessly and pulled back the covers, allowing Nora to curl under them and put her head on her mom’s shoulder. In all of the drama and stress about Barry, Caitlin had forgotten that today might very well be the day that Nora disappeared, too. But she wasn’t just disappearing from Caitlin’s life... she was disappearing from existence. 

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” Nora whispered. “I’m sorry.... I know it’s early.”

Caitlin pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s alright,” she whispered.

“I just remember so- so vividly....” Nora continued. “In the original timeline. I don’t- I don’t know why I still remember a life where dad disappears after I was born but I do. Maybe it’s because I- I won’t have a life if he disappears today.”

Caitlin squeezed her tighter, letting out a shaky breath. “Tell me about what you remember,” she murmured. “From your childhood.”

“Are you sure I can tell you?” Nora asked uncertainly. “I mean, it’s the future and all.”

Caitlin hesitated, and in that second Nora gave in. “I wanna tell you too much, screw the future,” she said with a small giggle. The laugh was nice to hear and Caitlin put an arm around her shoulders and both of them cuddled under the blankets together.

“I don’t remember ever living with dad,” Nora started. “I’m not sure exactly how old I was when he left, but I was really young. But I _do_ remember that every year, on April 25, you would cry so much. You wouldn’t want to do anything or go anywhere or see anyone. When I was six I had a soccer game on that day and Uncle Cisco took me because you had shut yourself in your room.”

Caitlin swallowed, looking down at the blankets. “I’m so sorry, Nora,” she whispered.

“I really resented you for it at first,” Nora admitted with a small sigh. “But as I got older, I started to learn what had happened. Uncle Cisco took me into STAR Labs one day and showed me some old videos of you and dad. It was just some security feed from the Pipeline that he had saved and- and dad proposed to you. I had never seen you so happy as I did when he asked you to marry him.”

Caitlin felt her chest tighten as tears prickled the back of her eyes. If Barry didn’t find away to stop the future from happening, they would never have that. He would never propose, they would never get married, they would never have their first time and their first child and go through the adventure and wonder of raising a human being that they had created together.

“Go on,” she urged Nora when she stopped and looked up at her hesitantly.

“Are you sure?” Nora asked. “This is… this is probably really hard to hear.” 

“It’s okay,” Caitlin assured her. “I want you to tell me. I want to know.”

“Okay,” Nora agreed. “So, after all of that I finally realized how much dad meant to you, and how much you missed him. And then on the 25th of April, when you would shut yourself in your room and cry, I would come with you. We would huddle under the covers of your bed together and cry and you would tell me stories about dad. All of the stupid and amazing and romantic and sweet and funny things he did. I saw how hard it was for you, but it made you feel better, too, to remember all of that. Just like it’s making me feel better to tell you all of this now.”

Caitlin rested her head back against the wall, above her pillow. The sun was still down, and the sky she could see through a crack in her curtains was black. It looked like a normal sky, like one that someone would see on any normal day.

But Caitlin knew that as soon as the sun rose, the sky would take on a deep red color. Even after the sunrise was gone, that color would remain, until Barry Allen disappeared from their lives for good.

When Nora and Caitlin walked into STAR Labs later that morning, dressed and as ready as they could be for whatever the day might hold, they found the rest of the Team already there. Everyone looked tired and bedraggled, weighed down by the knowledge of the day ahead.

“Hey, guys,” Barry greeted, walking over and pulling the both of them into hugs. Caitlin held onto him as long as she could, unable to stop the thought of, _What if this is the last time I ever hug him?_ from running through her head.

She took a shaky breath, steadying her emotions and her sickening stomach, and followed Nora and Barry farther into the room.

In the next couple of seconds, three things happened at nearly the same time. A gigantic bolt of lightning struck the ground right next to STAR Labs, making the hairs on Caitlin’s arm stand up. Oliver and Kara buzzed into their coms, yelling for backup. 

And the Reverse Flash came speeding into the Cortex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH THE TENSION IS INCREASING EXPONENTIALLYYYY


	10. Chapter 10

_In the next couple of seconds, three things happened at nearly the same time. A gigantic bolt of lightning struck the ground right next to STAR Labs, making the hairs on Caitlin’s arm stand up. Oliver and Kara buzzed into their coms, yelling for backup._

_And the Reverse Flash came speeding into the Cortex._

Barry swore quite loudly. “How the- how did you get out of the Pipeline?!” he demanded, eyes flashing.

“There’s no time to explain,” Eobard avoided. “The destruction has started, and soon there won’t be a future for you to toss me to.”

Barry gritted his teeth and Nora straightened her back. “Alright Team, we ready to get out there?”

Caitlin nodded and Cisco, who was closest to her desk, tossed her the jacket hanging on the back of her chair. By the time the jacket was on, Barry and Nora were in their suits, Cisco had put his vibe glasses over his eyes, and Ralph was in costume, Caitlin’s hair was white and her lips blue and Frost was ready for action.

“Wait,” Barry said hurriedly before Cisco breached everyone out of STAR Labs. “Frost can- can you let me talk to Caitlin?”

Frost sighed and rolled her eyes. “I see how it is, handsome,” she grumbled, but her eyes turned brown again and her face regained some color.

Barry stepped up in front of her and cupped her face. “This- this could be it.”

Caitlin swallowed, nodding. “I know,” she whispered. “But I believe that you will do anything you can to make sure it isn’t.”

He leaned down and kissed her. Caitlin wrapped her arms around his shoulders, the leather of the Flash suit soft underneath her fingertips.

“Let’s go already!” Eobard bellowed. “We don’t have much time.”

Barry broke off the kiss and glared at him. “This is my life, my time, my Caitlin,” he growled. “You don’t get a say in how long I take.”

But Caitlin had already faded back into Frost, her alter-ego too eager to take over to wait for Caitlin to finish saying goodbye. “C’mon speedster,” she grinned, nudging him playfully. “Let’s go kick some butt and freeze some lightning.”

In a couple of minutes, the six heroes were standing together in the main intersection of downtown Central City. People were screaming, running this way and that as the reddened sky spewed out fingers of pinkish-grey lightning and the ground rumbled and shook.

It wasn’t easy for the heroes without super speed to intersect any lightning. Barry was a blur and Kara was rescuing whoever she could. Cisco was opening breaches underneath clouds to suck in the lightning, though it seemed that, this being Speed Force lightning, it just went straight through. Frost kept up a steady stream off ice, trying to put up a protective ceiling over the city, but there was just too much to cover. Oliver was helping whatever people left to find safety and cover, and Ralph was attempting to stretch falling debris away and mostly just hitting himself on a lot of rubble. 

The Reverse Flash stood in the center of the street, watching all of this. Finally, Barry ran over to him and grabbed him viscously by the front of his suit. “Look,” he growled. “You said you need our help to protect your present. So now give us _your_ help to protect _ours_.”

Eobard Thawn glared right back at him. “Look, _Flash_ ,” he sighed. “You know exactly what you need to do to make all of this end.”

He broke free and shot off into a run. Barry followed after him furiously, and the two of them shot through the destroyed streets and panicked crowds. 

As they passed by Main Street, Barry caught a glimpse of Supergirl flying at the edge of a building, keeping it from falling. Frost was somewhere below her, putting out a fire caused by one of the lightning bolts. Everyone on his team was doing something to help.

And what was he doing? 

Barry skidded to a stop. “Eobard!” he yelled. “Wait.”

If it had been any other time, he might have noticed that this was the spot. He had come here a couple nights before, with the Speed Force, and had watched himself leave. 

But at that moment, he was too focused on what was going to happen next to realize what already had.

“I see you’ve come to your senses, Flash,” Eobard said, coming to rest in front of him.

“What do I need to do?” Barry asked, though he knew what the answer would be.

“You and I need to leave,” Eobard said. “We need to right my present- your future.”

Barry looked away, toward the broken pavement at his feet. 

“You being here, with Snow, has caused all of this. You know how the Speed Force is- it likes a good trade. You sacrifice, it’ll be satisfied.”

Barry gritted his teeth, fists clenching.

“I’ll go with you,” Eobard told him. “None of your friends will have to deal with me ever again if you leave here with me.”

It felt like there was a storm inside of Barry’s head. Snatches of the past week were coming back to him in blurry flashes.   
_  
“It’s changed,” Caitlin said. “But..... not in the way we wanted it to. Barry still vanishes. But instead of vanishing in 2024... he vanishes next week.”_

Thawn stood in front of him, expectant.

_“We’ve been through this before,” Caitlin reminded him, putting her hand on his knee and rubbing it. “Remember? When you and I first started trying to figure out our feelings for one another. We knew that there was a chance that Nora could just vanish. But we also remembered that the future is always and forever in flux, and that we couldn’t let it control us. And everything worked out.”_

Waiting.

_“One thing that has never changed is that I vanish,” Barry murmured. “No matter what other factors switch around, I’m going to bargain with the Reverse Flash, and I’m going to leave.”_

Triumphant.

_“All of this is our fault- my fault,” he mumbled. “I let Nora stay, I suggested starting something with you... and now the future is getting torn apart, and I’m going to have to leave everything I love.”_

Barry couldn’t concentrate on anything but the whirlwind inside his own head. 

_“Even if all of this turns out like the article says it does.... selfishly enough, I wouldn’t change these last few months for anything.” Caitlin admitted. “Being with you, and Nora, redeveloping our relationship and, well.... falling in love with you-” Her voice caught and she took a deep breath. “I’m just as scared as you to lose all of it. But even if we do.... I’m glad that we had this.”_

His vision blurred.

_“Everything’s gonna be okay,” she whispered into his ear, breath ruffling his hair. “We will get through this.”_

Thawn smiled, eyes narrowed. He knew he had Barry trapped in the palm of his hand.

_“You know who’s ‘ad about enough?” Caitlin slurred, slapping her hand onto the table. “Me. I’ve ‘ad about enough of the peple I love levin‘ me an‘ goin‘ off to save the w’rld.”_

A lightning bolt flashed. It hit the ground next to him and Barry felt the heat of it singe his hair. 

_Caitlin leaned into him. “C’sco?” she mumbled. “Yeah?” “I miss Barry.” “I know,” Cisco whispered, his voice breaking. “Me too.”_

Eobard Thawn took a step back from Barry. “Let’s go, Flash.”

_The Speed Force gave him a small smile. “When the time comes, you’ll know exactly what you need to do,” they murmured._

“ _No_.”

The word was spoken so harshly Barry was surprised that it came from him.

Thawn looked up, eyes wide. For the first time in a long time, Barry saw him looking truly scared. “ _‘No’_?!”

“No,” Barry repeated. His back straightened as the rumbling in the ground came to a stop. “I’m not going with you.”

“But- but- you caused this!” Thawn stuttered, shocked. “You’re actions are hurting everyone in this city! The only hope is for you to leave.”

Barry shook his head. He knew now, as he stood in a half-destroyed city, smoke rising and lightning flashing, that he was making the right choice. This was it. This was the one time in his life that picking _himself_ saved everyone else.

“Look, Thawn,” Barry said. “I don’t know who you think you’re fooling, but deep down, you don’t care about the future. You only care about yourself. You take me out of the picture now, not only is the world at your mercy but I lose everything, just like you’ve always wanted. If I leave now, Nora will get erased from existence. It’ll cause all of this. The only option is for me to stay; to build a life with Caitlin, raise a child, and eventually send her back into my past to help me realize what I truly wanted in my life.”

Focused on his words, he didn’t realize as the lightning stopped at the sky turned from red, to pink, to a pale indigo-rose, and finally to a brilliant blue.

“I’m not leaving with you, Thawn,” Barry continued. “Not now, not tomorrow, not ever. I’m staying here, where I belong, with the family I have and the life I love. I’m going to be a hero and I’m going to do good things and I’m going to save people. But I am _not_ , under any circumstances, going to leave. So unless you want to get dragged back to the Pipeline for the rest of your living days, I suggest that _you_ do.”

Struggling to get the last word, Thawn opened and closed his mouth angrily a few times. “You- you- you will regret this, Barry Allen!” he bellowed, before running off in a blur of glowing red eyes and dust.

That was the last time Barry Allen, the Flash, Central City’s hero, ever saw him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHH okay okay so my favorite thing about this ending is that I actually took inspiration from the italic memory flashes and used it in the finale scene of a non-fanfiction book I'm writing and I never would have thought to do that without this fanfiction :D :D


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As my Christmas gift to you all, here is the VERY LAST CHAPTER of the Flux series! Thank you for coming on this journey with me, and I hope that you enjoyed reading this story. I certainly enjoyed reliving it!

After Thawn ran off and vanished, everything happened very quickly.

Barry fell to his knees, feeling an overwhelming pressure in his head. Footsteps made him look up blearily and he had a second to brace himself before Caitlin had thrown herself into his arms. He hugged her back tightly, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

“I love you,” she whispered into his ear. “You did it.”

“We did it,” Barry corrected. “You keep me grounded, Cait; you keep me here.You always have.” 

A second later another figure joined their group hug. Nora was positively sobbing, clutching at both of her parents with suit-clad, trembling fingers. Caitlin opened her arms and let her into their hug. 

Oliver, Kara, Ralph and Cisco came jogging up. “Would you look at that,” muttered Ralph, looking around him in amazement. “The lightning’s stopped, the sky is blue, and Allen is still here.”

Barry slowly got to his feet, untangling himself from his family. He gave Cisco, Ralph and Kara all hugs before stopping in front of Oliver. “How ‘bout it?”

Oliver grunted. “Just this once,” he grumbled. “And none of you can tell a soul.”

The two of them hugged and Caitlin tucked Nora under her arm. “Ughhh,” she groaned. “Does anyone else have a _terrible_ headache?”

“I was actually wondering about that,” Caitlin admitted. “I thought it was from using my powers too much.”

“No, I’ve got it too,” Barry agreed. He glanced at the rest of his team but they all shrugged, heads clear.

“It’s gotta be from the timeline,” Nora murmured thoughtfully.

“Ah, great,” Cisco groaned. “ _Another_ change? Are you kidding me?”

“It’ll just be for Nora, Cisco,” Caitlin said. “Because her father will be there to watch her grow up.”

Barry looked down at her adoringly and kissed her. Kara beamed at the two of them. “I’d say this calls for a celebration!” she cheered. 

“I’m always up for one of those,” Cisco grinned, high-fiving her.

Barry laughed. It felt like a weight the size of Central City itself had been lifted off of him. He could _breathe_ again. “Why don’t we head back to STAR Labs and see Joe and Iris?” he suggested. “Cisco?”

“You got it,” Cisco said with a thumbs up, opening a breach for all of them to step through.

Once in the Cortex, Joe grabbed Barry in a bone crushing hug. Laughing, Barry hugged him tightly in return, before he was stolen back by Nora and Caitlin for more hugs and some Advil.

Joe invited everyone over to the Wests house. Twenty pizzas were ordered (and what with Barry, Nora _and_ Kara all there it would be a wonder if anyone still was able to get any) and beer was handed out. “A toast!” Oliver suggested, raising his bottle. “To Barry. To the fact that, even against impossible odds, he was able to save everyone once again, _and_ keep his family close.”

“Man,” Cisco smirked. “Impossible odds is our average Tuesday.”

Everyone laughed and clinked bottles. Barry draped his arm around Caitlin. “I’m glad that we can finally be together without this hanging over our heads,” he murmured.

“Yeah,” Caitlin agreed, pressing her lips to his cheek. “I am too. _Very_ glad. I don’t- I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you.”

Barry did, in fact, know what she would have done. The memory would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life, the look on her face as she lay on the floor of the bar, the one tear rolling down her puffy cheeks. It had, quite possibly, been the most terrible moment of his life.

But the knowledge had also given him a new angle on things. Whenever he had seen himself leaving, he had known that it would be hard. He had hated that he had to go. But at the same time, he had always seen himself as the hero, that leaving was the right thing to do. Now he knew that, even if he was saving some people, he would be breaking others. The best option- the only one he would allow himself to take, if possible- was to save everyone. Including Caitlin. Including Nora.

Including himself.

“Hey,” Caitlin murmured. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Barry said back, smiling as he rested his cheek on her hair. Nora, laughing with Cisco and Kara across the room, caught her parents watching her and sent them a brilliant smile. 

“Never better.”

**Author's Note:**

> Dang I'm hardcore dating myself with the 2018 thing XD 
> 
> Well, there is the first chapter! We're jumping right in. I'm gonna tell you all right now that this my favorite of the trilogy, and it's also the most involved. I hope you guys enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed creating it!


End file.
